Mealey's Discovery
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August 13, 2024
After Dismissing UCL Claim, Judge Relieves Plaintiffs Of ChatGPT Discovery
SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney-created prompts and testing of ChatGPT constitute protected opinion work product, and copyright infringement plaintiffs did not waive work product protections by including some results in their complaint, and the protections are not overcome simply because production would shed light on the case, a federal judge in California said in granting relief from a magistrate judge’s ruling.
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August 13, 2024
Special Master Sides With Plaintiffs In Spat Over Lab Employee Deposition
TRENTON, N.J. — Two orders made clear that an asbestos-testing lab employee was not being deposed as an expert but rather about firsthand knowledge that could potentially fill in the gaps of expert William Longo’s testimony, a special master in the federal asbestos multidistrict litigation said in denying a motion to compel and for sanctions.
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August 12, 2024
New York Times Says Judge Nixed Ruling OpenAI Cites Ordering Discovery Of Prompts
NEW YORK — A judge recently overruled a magistrate judge’s order that was cited by OpenAI Inc. and related entities in their effort to obtain prompts and other material related to presuit testing of ChatGPT, the New York Times Co. (NYT) told a federal judge in New York on Aug. 9 in its copyright infringement action against the creators of the artificial intelligence.
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August 12, 2024
Judge: No Deadline Extension In AI Company’s Battle Over Sci Fi-Based Name
NEW YORK — A 10-day delay in the holding of a settlement conference does not warrant a months-long extension of several case deadlines, and any failure to conduct discovery and settlement negotiations simultaneously as requested by the court lies with the parties, a federal judge in New York said in a trademark infringement case involving a dispute between an artificial intelligence chipmaker and a health care company it accuses of poaching its science fiction-based moniker.
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August 12, 2024
Government Seeks Sanctions For Google’s Chat Deletion In Ad Tech Antitrust Suit
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The U.S. government and 17 states filed a motion in a Virginia federal court for an adverse inference related to Google’s purported deletion of chat evidence, arguing that Google’s auto deletion policy of internal company chats after 24 hours has harmed the plaintiffs in their antitrust violation suit accusing the tech giant of monopolizing the online digital advertising market.
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August 07, 2024
Magistrate Recommends Denial Of Discovery Assistance To Shanghai Arbitral Tribunal
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas federal magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation saying that a judge should grant reconsideration and vacate an order granting a Chinese manufacturer’s ex parte application for court assistance in obtaining discovery for an arbitration against a marketing consultant in China, writing that the “private arbitration” falls outside the governing discovery statute.
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August 06, 2024
Judge Finds Google Liable For Market Monopoly In Sherman Act Antitrust Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge ruled Aug. 5 that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by keeping “its monopoly in two product markets in the United States — general search services and general text advertising — through its exclusive distribution agreements,” but that “Google lacks monopoly power in the market for search ads.”
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August 05, 2024
3rd Circuit Upholds Denial Of Foreign Discovery Bid Under Intel Factors
PHILADELPHIA — Ruling that a foreign litigant meets the applicable statutory requirements but most Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. factors favor the other party, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed denial of an application in which the assignee of Brazilian car leaderships sought discovery.
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August 05, 2024
Judge: No New Trademark Trial For Adidas Despite Withheld Discovery Emails
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge issued an opinion explaining in detail a May order in which he denied a motion from adidas America Inc. for a new trial in its trademark dispute with Thom Browne Inc., saying that adidas did not adequately show that newly discovered emails from Thom Browne suggesting the company was aware one of its designs could be infringing on adidas’ signature stripe design were likely to have changed the outcome of the trial.
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August 02, 2024
Talc Defendant Says Moline Study Exit Raises Subpoena’s Importance
RICHMOND, Va. — A plaintiff’s complete abandonment of any articles by expert Jacqueline Moline leaves only a study by Theresa Emory that serves only to increase the importance of a subpoena seeking evidence about the study, asbestos-talc defendant American International Industries told the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a letter brief.
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August 01, 2024
Ohio Panel Affirms Discovery Ruling For Estate Administrator In Wrongful Death Case
CLEVELAND — Finding that the operators of a group residential facility for children failed to establish that information and documents sought by the administrator of the estate of a boy who died while under their care falls under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or “is subject to any privilege such that they would be protected from discovery,” an Ohio appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting the administrator’s motion to compel.
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July 31, 2024
Authors’ UCL Claim Dismissed From ChatGPT Copyright Case
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on July 30 granted a motion by OpenAI Inc. and affiliates to dismiss authors’ claims that they violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by training artificial intelligence on copyrighted material after finding the claim preempted by federal copyright law.
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July 31, 2024
Delaware Judge Clarifies Which Documents Are Discoverable In Paraquat Coverage Suit
WILMINGTON, Del. — Two companies that make paraquat and face underlying claims from individuals who contend that the herbicide causes Parkinson’s disease must produce any documents with legal analysis as long as those documents do not include legal recommendations from the insureds’ law firm, a Delaware judge said in enforcing a prior ruling on which documents are discoverable.
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July 31, 2024
Judge OKs Further Discovery, Denies Motion For Summary Judgment In Device Case
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A motion for summary judgment in a product liability and personal injury suit involving a surgical implant is premature, a Kentucky federal judge ruled after finding that “additional discovery is necessary.”
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July 29, 2024
Judge Orders Cosmetics Company To Pay For More Depositions In Trademark Dispute
SAN FRANCISCO — A cosmetics company that asserts trademark and trade dress infringement of its mascara product by another cosmetics manufacturer will be allowed to conduct additional depositions to mitigate the prejudice caused by the defendant company belatedly disclosing expert witnesses’ functionality theories about the mascara brush trade dress that should have been included in discovery, a federal judge in California held.
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July 26, 2024
In 1st Impression Case, Panel Says Snapchat, Meta Must Provide Subpoenaed Info
SAN DIEGO — In a case of first impression, a California appellate court granted petitions for writs of mandate, ruling that the Stored Communications Act’s (SCA) disclosure limitations are inapplicable to bar compliance with subpoenas requesting access to social media posts made by a murder victim on Facebook and Snapchat because the platforms’ decisions to access their “users’ communications” puts them outside the SCA’s disclosure limitations.
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July 25, 2024
J&J, Plaintiffs Extend Battle Over Inspection Of Asbestos Expert’s Lab
TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson entities objected to a special master’s ruling precluding them from inspecting expert William Longo’s lab, saying his type of “sham-magic” requires a unique solution. But in response, the plaintiffs say that if the outcome of the testing is truly as clear as the defendants portray it, then they do not require such unprecedented and burdensome discovery.
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July 25, 2024
Magistrate Judge Denies Bid To Stay Discovery In UCL Suit Against Vape Sellers
SAN DIEGO — A California federal magistrate judge on July 24 denied a group of online e-cigarette retailers’ ex parte motion to stay discovery in a lawsuit brought against them along with several Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers by e-cigarette maker NJOY LLC, an Altria Group Inc. subsidiary, for allegedly violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and federal cigarette regulations by illegally selling “Elf Bar”-brand flavored disposable vapes (FDVs).
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July 24, 2024
Man Drops Reliance On Expert Moline’s 2023 Asbestos-Talc Study
NEW YORK — A man pursuing a mesothelioma action against American International Industries (AII) told a New York federal court in a letter that he would withdraw reliance on expert Jacqueline Moline’s 2023 article titled “Exposure to Cosmetic Talc and Mesothelioma” and requested that the related pending motions and discovery requests be denied.
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July 23, 2024
Magistrate Grants Adult Video Company’s Bid To Serve ISP In Illegal Download Row
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge on July 22 granted in part a motion filed by an adult video company to serve the internet service provider (ISP) of an unknown defendant accused of copyright infringement related to alleged illegal downloading and distributing of the video company’s content, finding that because serving the ISP is necessary for the company to proceed in this case, the company may serve the ISP with specified protections regarding identifying information.
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July 22, 2024
Kazakhstan, Moldovan Investors Settle Arbitral Feud As Judge Compels Subpoenas
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted in part two Moldovan investors and their companies’ motion to compel responses from a banking entity in support of enforcement of an arbitral award against Kazakhstan worth more than $500 million, as reports say the parties reached a settlement of the long-running feud.
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July 22, 2024
2nd Circuit Affirms Denial Of Section 1782 Discovery To ICSID Dispute
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 19 affirmed a ruling quashing an Italian company’s subpoena seeking discovery for use before an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal, writing that the federal statute governing discovery in assistance of foreign courts does not apply to ad hoc ICSID tribunals under recent U.S Supreme Court precedent.
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July 22, 2024
Parties To Asbestos-Talc Subpoena Appeal Debate Impact Of Expert Ruling
RICHMOND, Va. — Parties to a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving a ruling quashing a subpoena into the identifies of individuals who participated on a causation study recently filed letter briefs about the relevance of a ruling dismissing LTL Management LLC’s case against a different expert.
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July 19, 2024
Insureds File Contempt Motion In Hurricane Coverage Row With Guaranty Association
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Insureds whose rental property purportedly incurred hurricane damage filed a contempt motion in Louisiana federal court against an independent adjustor for its failure to respond to a subpoena in their hurricane coverage dispute with the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), which was substituted for their now-insolvent insurer.
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July 19, 2024
Talc MDL Special Master Denies Litigation Funding Discovery Request
TRENTON, N.J. — Questions surrounding litigation funding in the asbestos-talc federal multidistrict litigation don’t go to the claims or defenses before the court, and ordering discovery simply because plaintiffs refuse to settle would open the floodgates to such requests, a federal special master said, quashing subpoenas.